


Vengeance of the Mad King

by GrandPiekron



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 07:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15881493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrandPiekron/pseuds/GrandPiekron
Summary: Severa wasn't expecting to stumble upon a king in a Feroxi tavern who definitely shouldn't be there.The king in question certainly wasn't expecting a time traveler to fall into his metaphorical lap.The former Mad King of Plegia will have his revenge on the fools who dared try to use him, and Severa has no choice but to follow along if she hopes to figure out what happened to change the past to this degree - and maybe save the world and the one she cares about most in the process.





	Vengeance of the Mad King

_The Frozen Wench_ , Severa mused, staring up at the run-down sign over an equally run down Feroxi tavern.

 _Classy_ , she scoffed inwardly as she knocked the snow off her boots before stepping through the barely-functional gate, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the smell that permeated the room. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing that she’d taken that cushy escort job over her current contract. Even if it paid significantly less, the client at least had some concept of personal hygiene, unlike the mercenary band she was currently working with. Even so, at least this way she had an established group and therefore easier access to new contracts, as well as several reasonably capable fighters to watch her back – something she desperately needed, after her less-than-graceful break from the last group she’d worked with.

“Eek!”

Glancing over in the direction of the shriek to see one of the brutes in her company smacking a poor waitress on the rear, Severa felt her feeble attempt at optimism crumbling. _They may not be inept, but they sure are assholes_ , she thought. Not that the locals seemed to be much better, given the way they joined in with the other mercenary’s laughter.

Muttering curse words under her breath and glad she’d chosen somewhere else to sleep when they’d arrived in town the previous night, she idly scanned around the room for any potential threats – a habit she’d developed in the horrible future she’d been born in and hadn’t seen any reason to discontinue after she’d gone back in time – only for her thoughts to come to a screeching halt as she laid eyes on the man sitting in the corner booth closest to the doorway.

The man sitting there, clumsily nursing what clearly wasn’t his first drink of the day, bore an uncanny resemblance to the Mad King of Plegia, Gangrel. She’d never seen him in person, of course – he’d died before she was ever born in her timeline, marking the end of the war between Ylisse and Plegia. She had, however, seen enough portraits and heard him described by her parents enough to have a fairly good idea what he looked like.

 _That’s impossible_ , she thought, fighting down a rising panic. The mad king should, at this point in time, be lounging in his castle in Plegia plotting war with Ylisse and ordering his soldiers to attack the halidom disguised as bandits. According to her – admittedly hazy – knowledge of the war’s events, it was only about a week before he was going to kidnap Maribelle from her home and use her to start a full-blown war between the two kingdoms. The bastard had no reason to be drinking himself under the table at some hole-in-the-wall tavern in Ferox, and yet here he was.

Severa’s first response, after her initial panic, was to simply run the man through with her sword and move on with her day. This man, even if had ultimately been a pawn of Grima, was responsible for so much of the suffering her parents and her country had gone through. Killing him now would be doing the whole world a favor – provided, of course, that this really was Gangrel. If it wasn’t, then she’d have killed an innocent man.

If it was – she almost staggered as she realized the potential implications of Gangrel’s presence here. All the future children, with the exception of Lucina, had decided to make as little impact on the timeline as possible so that Lucina’s own attempts to change the past using their future knowledge would have the greatest chance of success. If, for whatever reason, one of them had changed the timeline this much then Lucina’s mission could be doomed before she’d even begun, and she might have no idea of the danger.

The mercenary was broken out of her thoughts when she noticed that the man was now staring at her, a curious expression on his face. It seemed her observations had not gone unnoticed, and because of that carelessness, she only really had one choice. Scowling fiercely to mask her inner turmoil – something she was quite skilled at from years of practice – she made her way over to the now-grinning madman and sat down at the booth across from him. At that, his smile grew wider, which only served to make her scowl harder.

“So what can I do for you today, little lady?” he asked cheekily, lounging back in his chair without a care in the world. At least, that was the appearance he seemed to be going for – despite his lazy posture and smile his eyes were sharp, darting across her body to examine her so fast that even she almost missed it. Despite his drunken affectation, he was still clearly aware enough to be a serious threat.

“What are you doing here,” she snapped, unwilling to play games with the notorious trickster.

“Why, enjoying a few drinks before I go back to my boring, mundane life like all the other idiots in this place,” he smirked, as if he’d read her displeasure at the other patron’s behavior from before she’d noticed him. Cursing inwardly and vowing to work on her situational awareness – clearly the relative peacetime had affected her more than she’d thought – she glared at him for a moment before responding.

“Come on, you and I both know who you are, Gangrel,” she growled quietly, hoping she wouldn’t be overheard. Normally she would approach this conversation with slightly more tact, but she was off balance at the moment. The thought of Lucina stumbling into a totally changed situation in the upcoming war – or even a trap, depending on how much they had compromised the timeline – was enough to shatter any tiny reservations Severa had.

“Ah, so we do,” he said, his expression shifting to a neutral one as he leaned forward onto his knee, resting his other hand on his waist where his sword was no doubt concealed. “The real question is, why are you here, if you know who I am?” Severa opened her mouth to reply but was cut off before she had the chance.

“Oy, Severa!” the loud voice of her captain rang through the tavern as he stalked over, clearly exasperated. “You were supposed to meet us –” he began, before trailing off as he got a good look at the man sitting across from her. Her captain’s face quickly lit up, and Severa had a sinking feeling that her morning was about to get even worse.

 _Remember that mental note you just made about situational awareness?_  

“You’re that man on the bounty board over there,” he exclaimed, glancing back to the notices pinned onto the wall that Severa hadn’t bothered to look at yet. “The disgraced king of Plegia, who got accused of treason and run out of his own kingdom by his fiancé,” the man sneered, stepping much too close to their table for comfort. Leaning back from his terrible breath, Severa stole a glance at the bounty board but it was too far away to read from her current position. _Maybe I should have dropped by last night rather than go straight to bed_ , she thought sardonically, _so I’d have had a bit more warning about this mess_.

“Huh. I suppose it was inevitable she’d put out a bounty looking for me,” Gangrel muttered. Then, to Severa’s shock, he simply glanced up at the man towering over them and shrugged. “Ah well, I’ll be more careful next time.”

“There won’t be a next time for you buddy,” her captain said, drawing his sword and levelling it at Gangrel. “Come quietly, or I might have to hurt you, your majesty.”

“Then again, maybe I won’t,” Gangrel continued as though the other man wasn’t even there.

“After all, I haven’t gotten to kill anyone in a while.”

That was the only warning Severa got before a bolt of lightning lanced out from under the table, smashing into her unprepared captain and hurling him backwards into another table that crumbled under his weight. Smirking once more, Gangrel stood up, revealing the Levin Sword he’d been holding in his other hand. Which he was probably pointing at me ever since he leaned forward, Severa realized as her heart leapt into her throat and she made yet another mental note to be more observant in the future. Noticing Gangrel glance back at her, she quickly threw her hands in the air to show that she wasn’t a threat.

“Oy, what did you do to our boss!” one of the fools in her company shouted, standing from his table. His motion was quickly followed by the rest of the company, Severa excepted – a total of twelve men in all, including the captain who was currently groaning on the floor.

“Well, he’s not dead yet,” Gangrel said as he stepped away from the booth without taking his eyes off her. “I can fix that, though,” he sang, blasting the man again as he tried to get up.

“Your bounty doesn’t say we have to bring you in alive, asshole,” her captain croaked, spitting a gob of blood from his mouth as he glared up at the mad king. “Get him, men!”

“Damnit all to hell”, Severa growled as she surveyed the room, where more and more people were noticing the upcoming fight. While only the twelve men in her company were currently up and ready to fight, she had no doubt that half the people in this hellhole would jump at what was likely a very large bounty. For a moment, she considered just letting the tavern’s patrons claim him without getting involved. He was, without a doubt, one of the worst people she’d ever had the privilege of hearing about, and the ideal timeline they’d been hoping to create would have led to his death anyway. However, judging by her captain’s earlier comments, something was seriously wrong with the current situation – Gangrel certainly hadn’t been accused of treason in her timeline or forced to flee Plegia – and the best source of information on what had gone wrong was likely the mad king himself. She needed to find Lucina and warn her about the changes to the timeline, and to do that she’d have to figure out exactly what those changes were.

Unfortunately, there was an entire bar full of riled-up morons in between her and getting any information out of Gangrel, and all she had was an iron sword and a load of pent-up stress. Cackling, the trickster began flinging bolts of lightning at the mercenaries attempting to close with him, causing them to split up and move around as a few of the slower men were fried by Gangrel’s attacks. Luckily for her, Gangrel seemed to be inching towards the door, likely having come to the realization that he couldn’t win this fight alone, but he was almost certainly not going to make it before the other patrons surrounded him.

As much as she hated the idea of killing civilians – even if they were scumbags – she didn’t really have a choice. Severa drew her sword and ran it through one of the patrons from the table adjacent to hers as he tried to charge Gangrel from behind. The man, not expecting someone else to preempt his backstabbing, gurgled blood from his mouth and quickly fell limp. Severa caught his knife in her free hand as it fell from his fingers before throwing it at one of the men who had been her sort-of allies until five seconds before, landing a direct hit in her unsuspecting victim’s eye.

“Come with me if you want to live,” she said, ignoring the man’s screaming as she rushed over to grab Gangrel’s free hand and drag him out the door. Luckily, the shock of her betrayal slowed down their adversaries long enough for them to make it back into the accursed Feroxi snow. Severa took a few steps out into the main street, then glanced back at the tavern with a grimace.

“We can’t flee on foot,” she said, glaring down at the tracks in the snow she’d just left.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Gangrel responded, waving his sword in the direction of the tavern’s attached stable-house as the mercenaries began pouring out the door. “That’s the only one in town, and they’d cut us off effortlessly,” he continued, before turning back to Severa and looking her over again before smirking.

“I don’t suppose you know how to ride a pegasus?” he asked, flinging another bolt of lightning behind him without looking. The mercenary coming out the door was caught off guard and thrown back through it into the others trying to exit the tavern, leading those already outside to duck for cover.

“Of course!” Severa scoffed, suppressing the brief pang of loss she always associated with that skill with practiced ease. “But how the hell is that supposed to help us?” she asked.

“Not to worry, I’ve got a plan,” the former king proclaimed before sprinting off into the wilderness, the disgruntled white-haired mercenary following close on his heels.

\------

“This is your plan?” Severa uttered in disbelief as she glanced around the clearing Gangrel had led them too. At the edge of the clearing, near a cave, a small flock of wild pegasi were currently digging through the snow searching for something to eat.

“Of course! I stumbled upon them last night when I was looking for somewhere to sleep and found this cave. When I woke up this morning, here they were! Good thing they’re still here,” he said, turning to face Severa and gesturing grandiosely with his sword arm. “Do your thing, girl, while I hold them off.”

“What! That’s stupid! Do you really expect me to just break a wild Pegasus right here?” she demanded, glaring at the idiot who had gotten her into this mess. “How am I supposed to – “ she ranted, stopping only because Gangrel pulled a length of rope from within his robes and threw it at her face.

“Better hurry,” he sang, stepping past her to face their pursuers. Severa could here them shouting various expletives and threats as they closed the distance. Judging by the volume, they couldn’t be more than a minute away.

“Damn you,” she muttered, walking as slowly as her frayed nerves would allow towards the pegasi. Unfortunately, pegasi were more intelligent than the average horse and could simply fly away if she tried to lasso it down, so she had to approach this carefully.

“Let’s get em! Bring me his head, but get the bitch alive! I wanna have some fun with her.”

There goes being careful.

“I’m going to regret this,” Severa sighed, tying one end of the rope around her left arm. Then, before the curious pegasi could react Severa threw the rope out, lashing it around the closest pegasus’ head. Predictably, the winged horse whinnied in displeasure and took to the air alongside the rest of its flock as they all attempted to scatter.

No amount of bracing herself prepared Severa for the pain as the pegasus flew high enough to stretch the rope taut, jerking her into the air by her arm and dislocating her shoulder in the process. Fortunately for her, the pegasus didn’t seem to appreciate it any more than she did as the sudden extra weight around its neck jerked it down toward the ground. Equally fortunately, Severa’s stunt managed to avoid simply breaking the animal’s neck, and she’d deliberately chosen the strongest one of the bunch in the hopes that it wouldn’t immediately crash from the unwanted and unwieldy cargo it was dragging along. Still, she was left praying the animal would decide to land before it choked itself or had the bright idea to slam her into a tree. Miraculously, Naga chose to listen to her prayers for once, as the offended animal flew lower and deposited Severa back onto the ground before landing a few meters away and glaring at her. “

Yeah yeah, I don’t like this anymore than you do,” Severa grumbled, stalking over to the pissed-off winged horse, “but unfortunately, I’m in a hurry.” Drawing even with the animal and ducking its wings as it flared them out, she turned back towards the source of her problems.

“Gangrel, let’s go!” she shouted. “Just a little busy, girl,” he responded absently as he ducked under a clumsy swipe from one of his opponents and disemboweled the man in return. In the brief time it had taken Severa to “persuade” her new pegasus Gangrel had slaughtered three of his attackers. However, he was still surrounded by three more, all of whom were keeping pressure on him to prevent him from using his Levin Sword’s magic for more than keeping them back. Worse, Severa could see the silhouettes of more hostiles trampling through the forest towards their location.

“Wonderful,” she muttered, mounting the pegasus and grabbing onto the rope with her right hand to spur it into the air. After steering it in the proper direction with her one good arm Severa let go of the rope and drew her sword, hoping the pegasus would catch her intent. Fortunately, it did, and the closest of Gangrel’s opponents was caught completely off guard as the pegasus swooped by him and Severa slashed his back open. The other two glanced up at their flying assailant in shock – a mistake that Gangrel instantly capitalized on. In a flash the two were on the ground, writhing as electricity danced across their bodies and charred their flesh.

Sheathing her sword, Severa guided the animal back to the ground long enough for Gangrel to hop on behind her and then took to the air again, flying off into the wilderness.

\-----

“So, can I have the name of my dashing savior,” Gangrel asked playfully as he lounged on a fallen log. The two of them had managed to fly several miles away from the town before the pegasus had decided to land and stubbornly refuse to fly again, forcing them to make camp. Gangrel seemed to find the enmity between Severa and the wild pegasus hilarious, which just made both Severa and the pegasus even surlier.

“It’s Severa,” she snapped, glaring at him from across the campfire.

“Severa, eh?” he said, rolling the name on his tongue, “I like it.”

“I don’t care. What did the captain mean, earlier, when he said you were accused of treason?”

“Straight to business, ah? Fair enough,” he said, rocking himself to a seated position.

“To answer your question, his description was rather lacking. I don’t suppose you’re aware of the current conflict in Valm?” he asked rhetorically, already prepared to continue his explanation. Of course, Severa’s pride refused to let the comment stand.

“I am, actually,” Severa interrupted, momentarily silencing the infuriating man.

“Really? Well then, that makes things easier. As you know, the Valmese empire is currently rampaging its way across the continent, conquering everything it gets its hands on. The other city-states will inevitably fall, lots of people will die, and the great Walhart will then turn his attentions to our continent. With Plegia and Ylisse in their current states, he will destroy us effortlessly.”

“That’s great and all,” Severa interrupted again, “but I already know that. Get to the point.”

“Yes yes, I’m going to,” Gangrel waved her off, clearly enjoying Severa’s growing frustration with him. “Anyway, as soon as I realized the situation, I decided the best course of action would be to unite our three countries against the Valmese threat. Of course, my initial ambassadors were turned away at the gates by the wonderful Exalt, who just didn’t have the time to deal with us filthy Plegians, and – “

“Wait, that’s not right,” Severa shouted, leaping to her feet. “There’s no way Exalt Emmeryn would just turn away a peaceful delegation like that!” Severa huffed, glaring down at Gangrel, whose only response was to raise an eyebrow.

“Are you quite finished?” he asked patronizingly. “I’m never going to get through my story if you keep interrupting me.” At Severa’s reluctant nod, he continued. “Anyway, they came back empty handed and brimming with stories of the abuses they had faced on their travels. The leaders of the Grimleal decided that there would likely be no way to peacefully negotiate with the Ylissians, and I agreed. There are, as you may know, very few things I hate in this world more than Ylisse.” At that, his face briefly fell into a sorrowful expression. Wreathed in the glow of the firelight, he seemed to age years in a single instant, the very image of a somber ruler reflecting on their failures. Severa barely managed to hide her surprise, but the moment ended as soon as he began, and his trademark grin reappeared.

“So I began preparing the Plegian army to conquer Ylisse and add its strength to ours by force. I ordered my forces to disguise themselves as bandits and harass Ylisse while simultaneously ordering another group to disguise themselves as Ylisseans and harass Ferox. With both countries at each other’s throats, it would be simple to swoop in and take the entire continent in one fell swoop. Then my country would prosper and I would defeat Valm with the power of the Fire Emblem.”

Suddenly, he stood up, gesturing theatrically, “I wouldn’t be the Mad King anymore. No, I’d be the great hero who brought on a new age of Plegian prosperity and saved the world from the ambitions of Walhart. The Hero-King Gangrel, they’d call me!” He held the pose for a moment before dropping back down into his seat as though all his energy had been drained away. This time, when his expression fell, it did not return.

“I was such a fool,” he croaked, burying his face into his hands. Severa, finally stunned into silence by the moment of seemingly-genuine vulnerability, simply stared. The two remained that way for almost a minute as the fire crackled obliviously in an otherwise silent forest. “The Grimleal were behind it all, of course. My rise to power, the ambassadors, even Walhart’s rampage. I would have never known a thing. I would have cheerfully led my country to its demise and given their blasted god everything he needed to rise to power, blinded as I was by my rage.”

Gangrel fell silent again.

“Why didn’t you?” Severa pressed hesitantly.

“Shortly after Aversa and I became engaged, I stumbled upon a letter in her study between her and Excellus – Walhart’s tactician. When I confronted her and her father Validar about it, they told me everything. Walhart, me, even Emmeryn, we are all just pawns in the Grimleal’s game.” He shook his head with forced mirth. “They tried to dispose of me afterward, of course. Apparently finding that letter was enough of a change in their plans that they decided I had outlived my usefulness entirely. Luckily, despite my many failures I wasn’t stupid enough to confront them unprepared, and I managed to escape.”

Gangrel paused for a moment, while Severa’s mind reeled. She knew essentially everything he’d just said, as her parents had lived through most of it – the only new information was the apparent reasoning behind Gangrel’s war on Ylisse. Still, she could barely believe it. Naga had warned them that their presence may cause changes to the timeline, but for Gangrel to have discovered the Grimleal’s manipulations through what seemed like sheer coincidence was far beyond anything she had expected. Severa found herself laughing at the absurdity of it all.

“Well that’s not the reaction I was expecting,” Gangrel muttered, idly twirling his Levin Sword. “You didn’t seem at all surprised until the end there, but I figured I’d get more of ‘so you’ve figured out our plans’ maniacal laughter, not ‘this man must be crazy’ maniacal laughter. You’re a fairly good actress, for a Grimleal.”

That brought Severa up short. “Wait, what? What gave you a crazy idea like that?” Severa asked, confused. “I’m Ylissean, for one, and I’d sooner die than worship Grima.”

“Oh come on, you expect me to believe that?” Gangrel scoffed, pointing the Levin Sword at her for emphasis. “You clearly have knowledge of events that nobody but myself and the upper levels of the Grimleal should possess. Also, even in this firelight I can tell that you are, at the very least, half-Plegian.”

Severa couldn’t help but wince at the reminder, something Gangrel clearly picked up on.

“As expected. Which one, your mother or your father?” he asked.

“My father,” Severa replied absently.

“There, see? That wasn’t so hard. So, I’ve spilled my guts out to you, why don’t we hear yours, witch.”

“I told you, I’m not Grimleal,” she snapped angrily, preparing to stand but stopping herself as she remembered the Levin Sword currently pointed at her.

“Then what are you?” he grinned, still brandishing his weapon. “You might have saved me back there, but don’t think I won’t fry you in an instant if you lie to me.”

Backed into a corner, Severa thought desperately for a lie that would appease the paranoid Plegian king. She’d been on the receiving end of more magic attacks than she cared to count, but she still wasn’t eager to try and fight the madman, especially with her dislocated shoulder. Finally, as he began to grin wider, she blurted the first thing she could think of.

“I’m from the future!”

That, at least, made Gangrel pause. For a moment it seemed like he would simply dismiss it, but then his grin faded into a more neutral expression.

“Continue,” he ordered.

So Severa told him everything.

\-----

“So let me make sure I have this right. You and your friends, including the future princess of Ylisse, come from a future where Grima successfully awakened and destroyed the world. You were sent here by Naga herself through an Outrealm Gate so you could stop Grima from ever reviving and save everything. Even though you’re just a bunch of kids.”

Severa bristled at that, but managed to bite back her outburst. “Yeah, that about covers it,” she said.

“Also, your father is a white-haired Plegian named Robin, who disappeared right about the time Grima awakened, correct? And Validar became the king of Pleigia after my death in your future, correct.”

“…yes.” Gangrel suddenly laughed uproariously, causing Severa to glance up at him in confusion.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s just,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes, “Aversa mentioned once that she had a brother named Robin who disappeared when she was a child. Wouldn’t that be hilarious, if your father was that same Robin? That’d make you the princess of Plegia! Heh, the future princesses of Plegia and Ylisse, united to save the world? It’s like a something out of a fairy tale.” He started laughing again, making Severa glare at him.

“I’m glad you find my suffering funny,” she muttered.

“Of course,” Gangrel said, suddenly sobering up, “that’d make you related to me as well, since Validar’s wife Morgana was a distant cousin of mine.”

“No thanks,” Severa grimaced, looking over at the Plegian who now seemed lost in thought. “Still, I expected a bit more disbelief from you, to be honest.”

“Nah,” Gangrel laughed, finally setting his sword aside, “honestly, it makes more sense than you being a Grimleal. Among other things, the only Plegians who know how to ride a pegasus are the Dark Fliers, and they would have just used magic to force the pegasus to do their bidding rather than dislocate their shoulder trying to catch one.”

Despite herself, Severa blushed slightly at the reminder of her earlier escapade. “It was all I could think of at the time,” she muttered, setting the trickster off on another bout of laughter.

“Oh, man, you’re a riot, girl,” he smiled, before suddenly becoming serious again. At this point Severa was somewhat unnerved with how rapidly his moods seemed to change.

“So, what now? You said you came back to save the world, but you don’t seem to be doing that slumming around with no-name mercenaries in the Feroxi wilderness,” he questioned.

“We all decided Lucina should be the only one to actively interfere with the timeline, so that the past wouldn’t change so much that we couldn’t predict it,” she replied sullenly. She’d been against it, personally, but Lucina had been adamant that she be the one to shoulder the burden. As much as Severa had hated the idea, it had made sense at the time.

“Well, obviously that’s not going to work now, is it?” he snarked, breaking Severa from her reflection. “Clearly, the past has changed so much that you can’t predict it.”

“You think I don’t know that!” Severa shouted, tears forming in her eyes despite her best efforts to hide them. “Lucina’s out there, thinking she knows what’s coming, and she’s going to get herself killed!”

“You could always go save her,” he said, tilting his head at her, “just go swoop in like the majestic knight in all the stories, come to rescue the princess you supposedly care so much about. It would certainly be better than hiding out up here letting her do all your work for you,” he continued, each word a stab in Severa’s heart.

“Shut up!” she cried, barely even registering that she’d stood up at some point. “What about you, huh? You let yourself get manipulated into creating the perfect scenario for Grima to awaken and destroy the world, and yet when you find out you just run away like a coward and drown yourself in drink in some stupid tavern!” Severa took a step forward, shaking with rage as her tears ran hot down her face. “Some king you are!”

A million emotions flickered across Gangrel’s face in that instant before he settled on a low, sardonic chuckle. Severa’s rage dissipated, totally spent, as she watched the former Mad King slump off his log and fall to his knees in front of the fire.

“You’re right,” he said, staring into the flames with an unreadable expression.

“Some king I am.”

Severa simply stood, at a loss for words, as the mad king’s words played in her head over and over again.

_So, what now?_

The pegasus suddenly snorted from its position at the edge of the camp, breaking the silence.

“To hell with it!” Gangrel suddenly roared, surging to his feet with his trademark grin back in full force.

“W-What?” Severa sputtered eloquently, backing away from the man and his crazed expression. Dimly, she noted that even the pegasus was moving to the edge of its rope, seemingly unnerved by Gangrel’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Let’s go save the world, ah? You and me! It’s not like I’ve got anything else to lose, right?” Gangrel cackled excitedly, grabbing his Levin Sword and throwing it spiraling into the air.

“A-are you crazy!” Severa demanded, taking another unconscious step backwards.

“Of course! They don’t call me the Mad King for nothing,” he laughed, snatching his sword out of the air with practiced ease. “You remember what I said, earlier, about there being very few things I hated more than Ylisse?”

“Yeah,” Severa replied, still somewhat lost.

“It just so happens,” Gangrel continued, a murderous gleam in his eyes, “that list includes both traitors and people who think they can manipulate me like some lowly servant. The Grimleal are both, and I’m going to make sure they regret ever crossing me.” Even though Gangrel wasn’t addressing her, Severa couldn’t help but sweat slightly at the king’s murderous intent.

“So let’s do it! You get to save your princess and both nations you hail from, while I get my revenge and whatever meager redemption the world sees fit to give me. The former Mad King of Plegia and its future princess, banding together! What do you say?” he asked, grinning as he held out his hand over the fire for her to shake. Severa stared at him a moment longer, while he remained frozen, arm outstretched, with that infuriating grin on his face.

“You’re serious,” she finally mustered, shaking her head in disbelief.

“More than I’ve ever been in my life,” he replied. Severa buried her face in her hands, knowing she was going to regret this later. Still, if it meant saving Lucina –

“Alright, I’ll do it,” she said, shaking his hand, before his earlier statement caught up with her. “But I’m not a princess, damnit!”

“Ahahaha! Nah, I think I’ll call you that until proven otherwise, it’s more fun that way!”

“You smug, irritating –”

Severa was already regretting this.

"But first," he said, his smile growing wider as he stepped around the fire and closed the distance, "we need to do something about that arm!"

He seemed much to cheerful for someone who was about to pop his supposed ally's shoulder back into place.

_Yeah, definitely regretting this._

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was a thought that started bugging me since I first played Awakening - if Gangrel and Walhart had spent like 5 minutes talking to each other before they started their respective wars, basically the entire plot could have been avoided. Of course, things won't be that easy here, but I still wanted to write a semi-heroic Gangrel who managed to discover the Grimleal's plans for him and decided to screw them over instead.


End file.
